Monte Cianea is a mountain of the

Ligurian Prealps The Ligurian Prealps (in Italian ''Prealpi Liguri'' or ''Alpi Liguri Orientali'', in French ''Préalpes liguriennes'') are a mountain range in northwestern Italy. They belong to the Ligurian Alps and are located between the regions of Piemonte ( ...

, in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Geography

The mountain belongs to the Ligurian Alps and is located in the

province of Cuneo Cuneo (Italian), or Coni (Piedmontese), is a province in the southwest of the Piedmont region of Italy. To the west it borders on the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ( departments of Alpes-Maritimes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Haut ...

(

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

), close to the border with

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

. It's located on the

main chain of the Alps The main chain of the Alps, also called the Alpine divide is the central line of mountains that forms the drainage divide of the range. Main chains of mountain ranges are traditionally designated in this way, and generally include the highest p ...

and is the

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

where the

drainage divide A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a singl ...

s between

Tanaro The Tanaro (; pms, Tane ; ; la, Tanarus), is a long river in northwestern Italy. The river begins in the Ligurian Alps, near the border with France, and is the most significant right-side tributary to the Po in terms of length, size of drai ...

, Bormida and

Neva The Neva (russian: Нева́, ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it ...

valleys meet. In the

SOIUSA Alps by SOIUSA. SOIUSA (an acronym for - English: ''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps-ISMSA'') is a proposal for a new classification system of the Alps from the geographic and toponomastic point of view. It was designe ...

(''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps'') it belongs to the

and, within them, to ''Monte Carmo'' group and ''Costiera del Monte Carmo'' subgroup (

SOIUSA code SOIUSA code is the code used in the International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps (ISMSA or SOIUSA), a proposal by Italian Alpinist, Sergio Marazzi, to re-categorize the mountains and mountain ranges of the Alps. The proposal has bee ...

:I/A-1.I-A.2.b).

Geology

The mountain is mainly made of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

rocks, which are crossed by a

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

belt rich in minerals of the

feldspar Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagioclase'' (sodium-calcium) feldsp ...

group.

History

The area around Monte Cianea was involved in

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's Italian campaign; in 1795 the Piedmontese army built there a stronghold. The area saw then violent fights because of its strategic relevance, given access to

valley and thus to the Po plain.

Access to the summit

Monte_Cianea_cumulo_di_pietre_sulla_cima

The monte Cianea can be easily reached by footpath starting from different places. The route from

Colle del Quazzo The Colle del Quazzo (1090 m) is a mountain pass in the Ligurian Alps (Italy). It connects Garessio (Piedmont) with Calizzano (Liguria). Geography The pass stands between Bric Meriano (NW, 1.251 m) and Bric verdiola (SE, 1.154 ...

crosses the Colla Bassa pass, while from

Colle San Bernardo Colle San Bernardo (957 m) is a mountain pass in the Province of Cuneo (Italy). Geography The pass is located on the main chain of the Alps and connects Garessio with Erli and Albenga (Province of Savona), on the coast of Ligurian Sea. ...

the way is shorter and encircles on the

valley side of the neighboring (and steeper) ''Bric dello Schiavo''.. The southern slopes of Monte Cianea are crossed by the

Alta Via dei Monti Liguri The ''Alta Via dei Monti Liguri'' (AV, literally "High Route of the Ligurian Mountains") is a long-distance waymarked hiking trail in the Italian region of Liguria. In about and 44 day hikes, it runs through the arc formed by Ligurian Alps ...

, in its stage linking

with

Colle Scravaion The Colle Scravaion (814 m) is a mountain pass in the Province of Savona (Italy). It connects Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena with Bardineto. Geography The pass stands between Monte Lingo (1103 m, West) and Rocca Barbena. Located on the ma ...

References

Bibliography

Maps

* *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cianea monte One-thousanders of Italy Mountains of Piedmont Mountains of the Ligurian Alps Province of Cuneo